Angel Reese

Even if done unintentionally, the WNBA’s schedule-makers couldn’t have created a more poetic circumstance if they had tried on May 15, 2024. In front of a sellout crowd, the Dallas Wings, 2023’s No. 1 rebounding team, would stand across from the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, a player who, within weeks, would put herself on the precipice of never-before-seen greatness in that very category. Even after documenting one of college hoops history’s most decorated résumés, Reese, later acknowledging a goal of silencing any remaining skeptics, immediately got to work through her trademark, unapologetic approach. Transformative in her play, particularly in the second half, Reese offered some of everything, from soft-touch finishes to a hunt-for-every-rebound mentality, and sound defensive play. The end result would feature a 12-point, eight-rebound, one-assist, one-steal debut. For even a player of “Bayou Barbie”-like confidence, what immediately followed — a single-season rebounding average record (13.1), a league-record 15 consecutive double-doubles, and an All-Star nod in Year One, among much else — couldn’t have been flawlessly predicted. Excellence, though, officially began on that mid-May evening in Texas, in which Reese’s showcase left one unsaid message: even against arguably the WNBA's biggest team, two would stand tall on this day.

Three-Star Rookie